A traditional symbol of peace and compassion was the inspiration for a Canada 150 arts project to promote unity between the communities of Ladysmith and Stz’uminus.
Ladysmith Family and Friends (LaFF) spearheaded the effort to have mostly children, but also a few adults, paint 150 flags that will be sewn together and on display.
“I had been in India and was hiking in the Himalayan mountains and saw all these prayer flags so that was the idea for getting children involved and creating these,” said LaFF executive director Jacqueline Neligan.
Work started back in October and the big unveiling will take place at Aggie Hall as part of National Child Day on Nov. 20 from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
“We’ve been painting them during the LaFF morning program so we’ve had parents, grandparents and children who have painted them,” said Neligan.
Then last Tuesday, LaFF volunteers as well as those from the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery collaborated with teachers at Stz’uminus Primary School to have students let their imaginations run wild with nothing but red paint and a blank canvas.
Now art students at Ladysmith Secondary School are putting the finishing touches on the flags.
Neligan said the main goals was to have a “collaborative partnership with as many people involved as possible.”
“Kind of like the paddles and the canoe (for Transfer Beach) it’s an opportunity to move forward. For me I see our children as that opportunity to work together and for them to have a brighter future by working collaboratively together from a young age, and all ages working together too.”
The flags will likely hang in the Aggie Hall foyer for a short while before they’re passed along to Stz’uminus and the art gallery for the annual children’s art show in June.
“They’ll be the travelling flags for a while,” Neligan said.